As used herein, the term "Enriched Macaroni Product With Fortified Protein" refers to high protein macaroni products conforming to Standard of Identity established by Food and Drug Administration, an agency of the United States of America, under Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 139.117. The term "Enriched Macaroni Product" refers to ordinary everyday macaroni and spaghetti products that conform to FDA's standard of identity 21 CFR 139.115. As used herein, the term "Wheat Flour" includes the entire family of wheat flour products, more commonly known as Semolina, Farina, Durum Flour, Hard Wheat Flour, Spring Wheat Flour and Clear Flour.
Cox et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,069 discuss the regulatory requirements of "Enriched Macaroni Product With Fortified Protein" and teach higher protein macaroni product, using semolina (78-89%); Dried Whey (5-22%); Calcium Caseinate (4-8%); L-Lysine (0.75); Calcium Hydroxide (0.1%) and Wheat Gluten (1-1.5%). Although the Cox formulation uses Denatured Whey (35% to 50% protein), it does not blend well with semolina, and the resultant macaroni product has white spots throughout. Although the problem can be corrected partially by using semolina of a finer grind, it cannot totally be corrected because of the relatively hygroscopic nature of the whey constituent.
In the prior art, Grindstaff et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,120,989 discloses a new manufacturing process for denaturing whey protein concentrate, using a food grade emulsifier, which is compatible with whey protein and wheat flour. This resultant product is available commercially from Stauffer Chemical Company Food Ingredient Division.
Grindstaff also purports to teach the production of "Enriched Macaroni Product with Fortified Portein," using semoline (80-95%); Denatured Whey (5-20%); Emulsifier (0.3-0.6%) and Soy Protein Isolate (0.8%). The formulation containing 5% whey and 95% semolina (Table II Example 15) results in a product containing only 15.35% protein, while the formulation in same Table Example 11 results in 18.65% protein. Both of these examples fail to meet the FDA's minimum requirement of 20% protein. Using the Grindstaff et al procedure, a minimum of 16% whey is needed to arrive at 20% protein level. At that high level of whey the macaroni product loses its typical characteristics. The product with 16% whey and 84% semolina results in foaming of cooking water, and extremely soft and mushy texture of cooked product. The cooked product also has chalky mouth-feel and taste foreign to typical macaroni product.
Another product known to the art is a high-protein macaroni material believed to comprise Durum Flour, Soy Flour, Whey Protein and lactalbumin. It is also known in the prior art to form a high-protein macaroni product from wheat germ and lysine. Such a product, highly nutritious, is so lacking in acceptable aesthetic quality that it is not commercially acceptable.
It is axiomatic in the food industry that clever and inexpensive advances in nutritional value of food products have no beneficial import unless the advantage aesthetic quality of food is accepted by the consumer.